‘Fasting’

By Raoul Suarez

We were young back then. We didn’t have money back then. We were just students. We had to rent. We had to hang out in the arcade. Before Intermittent Fasting was even given a name and became a trend, gamers have been doing that since the beginning of time and at a very young age.

We would hold on to our lunch money and try not to spend too much on food because there will be food at home anyway. We would load up on food at home and get an inexpensive meal in school. Some of us, who are really addicted to the games found at the arcade but didn’t have enough lunch money, would even skip meals just so we can spend a majority of that lunch money on tokens in the arcade.

As technology progressed and PC gaming in an internet station became the norm, it was still the same thing. Hold on to that lunch money. Keep that “baon” and use it for gaming, and load up on food when you get home. Those who have extras would normally get themselves a pancit canton to go with fried egg and a bottle of Mountain Dew or whatever drink was available at the shop. It was the staple food for gamers back then. I wonder if it’s still a thing nowadays.

The world has changed so much. A lot of people are into fitness now. Proper diet. Exercise. Hitting the gym and sweating it out. Running and walking daily with an app that tracks distance. Weight loss programs that come from paid apps or come free from the internet. It’s the IN thing now. People keep track and take selfies to see how they have improved after they started their daily exercise routines. Intermittent fasting also comes into play. There are just times of the day when one gets to load up and eat and there’s a specific time frame for abstinence and fasting.

Transitioning from this sort of old school gaming lifestyle into the new school fitness thing was not hard for us as we became adults. With all the dietary and fitness regimens some of us are into now, we were already used to doing it back then. We all know that the timed food consumption and deprivation would not be a challenge as it was a normal way to live while we were growing up and spending most of our time playing our video games; just a minor shift in the food choices we consume nowadays but still the same practice.

Intermittent Fasting? Gamers were trained to do it early, without even realizing it. It’s something that some kids these days would never really get to experience as the platforms have evolved into the hand-held mobile device realm and their gamer parents would now own a PC or a gaming console. We hope they don’t have to. It isn’t a very healthy way to live.

There might be new set of challenges that the new generation of gamers are encountering on a day-to-day basis as compared to what it was back then. I don’t really know. I haven’t really figured that out yet. All I know is that it was hard back then, but we pulled it off. It could be the same thing now but with different circumstances.

Yes, it was hard. The 90s gamer kids like us had our struggles. We had to find ways to play the games that we love because our parents can’t afford consoles or a PC. We had to rent. We had to buy tokens from the arcade. There were no emulators too. The internet wasn’t really that accessible and it didn’t have most of the resources that it has now. Some parents won’t even let their children play video games because it might affect academic performance. These kids still manage to find a way to do so though. We all managed to find a way. We all had a pocketful of made-up excuses as to why we were home late once in a while if not most of the time.

The gamer kids back then, who eventually became the modern-day gamer parents, now have jobs that enable them to secure a game console or a gaming PC at home. They would normally purchase these gadgets because their old folks back then would rather not spend on such and would consider it a luxury.

It was very hard to get a hold of a gaming console back in the old days; especially if you live in a small town with one or two big malls. Nowadays, these gadgets are pretty much available in our local stores and have become a part of our living spaces. Ordering from shopping websites or mobile apps has also made it easy; and it comes with different payment options based on preference.

Still playing games and you’re almost 40 or maybe over 40? It isn’t something to be ashamed of. No. It’s fine. The games can always teach you a whole lot of things when it comes to time and resource management. It isn’t so bad. I’m sure you already know that anyway.

We got old. We have jobs now. We don’t have to starve ourselves anymore and rely on lunch money. We can afford now. Most of us can. Our children don’t have to go through what we have been through. We’ve been there. We’ve done that. We know better. Intermittent Fasting? Yeah. We did it first. Go. Pat yourself in the back. Go. Play games.